Kakao Page to Apply the “Wait then Free” Business Model on a Chinese Platform for the First Time

Kakao’s mobile contents platform KakaoPage revealed that it will reinforce cooperation with Tencent’s cartoon website Tencent DongMan on August 3rd.

Kakao stated that its charged business model “Wait then Free” will be introduced to Tencent DongMan. In 2016, the two companies started discussing the charged model that fits the Chinese market the best. After careful consideration, the companies decided to apply the model on the Chinese platform. This serves as the first case in which a charged domestic contents platform was officially adopted in a Chinese platform.

“Wait then Free” is a core business model of KakaoPage. Users can subscribe to the piece and wait a certain amount of time to be allowed to read an episode for free. This platform is targeted for each individual reader and therefore allows each user to enjoy the piece with ease. As for the writers and publishing companies, they can secure more readers and create more revenue through this system.

Tencent DongMan is the largest webtoon and animations platform in China; the company possesses the highest number of contracted pieces and foreign licensed pieces. Over 50,000 writers post their work on the Tencent platform, and over 22,600 cartoon titles are currently being posted on Tencent. 50 cartoons have reached 1 billion views. 14 animation works have reached over 100 million views. Total views exceeded the 10 billion views.

At the beginning of this year, Kakao collaborated with Tencent DongMan and introduced over 20 KakaoPage and Daum Webtoon pieces including “I Hate Love(연애싫어)”, “Shaman Girl(소녀신선)”, “Why, Secretary Kim?(김비서가 왜 그럴까)”, and “Sword Magician King(마검왕)” to the Chinese readers. Kakao was able to extend the collaboration with Tencent to sharing business model and platforms as well as contents. The two companies plan to expand the collaboration to the IP business fields including secondary contents and videos.

Second director of Kakao contents business department Jinsoo Lee stated, “Tencent DongMan does not only have profound amounts of commercialization experience in the digital cartoon and animations field, but also have succeeded in managing the publication rights of premium IP and management of following enterprises.” He added, “Kakao will try its best to successfully introduce the ‘Wait then Free’ model in the Chinese market and thus help Tencent DongMan grow its influence in the market.”

Jiwon is a tech writer, software engineer, data analyst, and a fan of any new tech invention. He is currently studying Computer Science and Statistics at Johns Hopkins researching medical imaging using computer vision. He believes that tech is the new superpower of our time, and he wants to do anything to further its development. You can reach Jiwon at jiwon.shin@techforkorea.com